Category: Political

Jonathan Turley, professor of public interest law at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said the legislative branch of the U.S. government is in danger of becoming irrelevant in the face of continued executive overreach.

“My view [is] that the president, has in fact, exceeded his authority in a way that is creating a destabilizing influence in a three branch system,” Turley said. “I want to emphasize, of course, this problem didn’t begin with President Obama, I was critical of his predecessor President Bush as well, but the rate at which executive power has been concentrated in our system is accelerating. And frankly, I am very alarmed by the implications of that aggregation of power.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZabKoPtgG3E

News from the Hill…    

Drones…    

One of the bills we passed out of the House and sent over to the Senate was HF 2289.  This bill regulates the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s).  The number of UAV’s is fairly low at this time, but they are becoming much more popular and affordable to the average person.  While normally I am not an individual who votes for more regulations, the use of UAV’s are presently unregulated.  The bill permits individuals to purchase and use UAV’s.  However, they may not use them to harass, stalk, intimidate or terrorize others.  This bill does not affect the military, but other Government Agencies must have permission to purchase UAV’s and they may not record information without a warrant unless there is an emergency and court approved within 48 hours.  UAV’s may be purchased for about $30 up to several thousand dollars.  They may be small enough to hold in your hand or several feet long. 

 There may need to be further changes to this law in the future, as the uses and number of people that may own them increase.  There will be some very good uses that will be available sometime in the future.  But there will also be some uses that none of us would want to occur.  Technology will continue to change and become more affordable for more to use and/or abuse.  The intent is to maintain the balance of personal freedoms and property rights of those who may own the UAV’s and those who may be affected by others flying the UAV’s.   I voted for this bill in the Public Safety Committee and I voted for the bill on the House Floor.   

 Firearm Suppressors…    

Thursday one of the bills that passed off the House floor and sent over to the Senate was a bill allowing Iowans to purchase and possess firearm suppressors in accordance with Federal law.  A suppressor help to minimize the sound that comes from the use of a firearm.  Federal law requires a person purchasing a suppressor to: be a resident of the United States, legally eligible to purchase a firearm, pass an extensive Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives background check, pay a onetime $200 Transfer Tax, fee per suppressor, reside in a state where civilians can legally own suppressors, be at least 21 to purchase a suppressor from a dealer, be at least 18 to possess a suppressor as a beneficiary of a trust or corporation.  This will help to protect the hearing of those using their firearms as well as reducing the sound for others who may be affected by the sound.  I support this bill and voted for it on the House Floor.

 Ways & Means…    

This week there was more floor action and less committee work, with the exception of the Ways and Means Committee.  We assigned 15 bills and several of the subcommittees met and passed their respective bills on to the full committee.  We should debate several of those bills next week in the full committee.  One of those that will pass out of the Ways and Means Committee next week will be, HSB 644, the Internal Revenue Code update.  House Study Bill 644 updates Iowa Code references to the Internal Revenue Code to January 1, 2014, which ensures that federal income tax revisions made by Congress in 2013 are applicable for Iowa income tax purposes.   This applies retroactively to January 1, 2013, for tax years beginning on or after that date.  In addition, House Study Bill 644 repeals the Iowa generation-skipping transfer tax and the Iowa estate tax.  Both of these taxes have not been collected for Iowa for deaths occurring after December 31, 2004.

 Normally I try to run this bill out of the committee very early in the year.  But this year the Federal government hadn’t made any major changes to their tax code by the end of the year.  I have been waiting to see if the Federal Government would make any changes in their Tax Code in January or February so we could make the same changes in our Iowa Tax Code.  However, they have not made any changes so we will pass the bill and get it on its way to the Governor’s Desk.  

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” – Ronald Reagan

 For more information on these and other bills:  www.legis.iowa.gov

 Until next time,

Tom Sands

 This weekend’s forums:   Saturday, March 1^st

        9:00 AM – 10:30 AM   Muscatine Community College Student Center

        11:15 AM-12:15 PM   State Bank of Wapello Community Room

Click here: Iowa’s DCI wrapped up its investigation this month and has referred more than 80 cases of voter fraud to county attorneys for possible prosecution.

This video illustrates how much money Lithuanians lose due to taxes.  As you watch, keep in mind Americans pay nearly as much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL7dmKYad6Q

Click here: Why is the FCC studying ‘perceived station bias’ and asking newsrooms about coverage choices?

News from the Hill…  

Funnel Mania…  

This week was what is referred to as the first funnel.  February 21 was the final date for Senate bills to be reported out of Senate Committees and House bills out of House Committees.   The bills needed to be passed through the committee process to stay eligible for debate.  It will take a couple of days to figure out what bills stayed alive and what bills died in committee.  This first funnel can be very disappointing and/or a relief, it all depends upon your perspective and the bill.  We have just three weeks until the second funnel.  March 14 is the final date for Senate bills to be reported out of House Committees and House bills need to be reported out of Senate Committees.  So the House has three weeks to debate and pass House bills and the Senate has to pass those House bills out of a Senate Committee to stay eligible to become law.  The Senate will be doing the same thing with their Senate bills and the House will have to pass those bills out of a House Committee to stay eligible.  This applies to all bills and all committees with the exception of the Appropriation, Ways & Means and Oversight Committees.  The bills in those committees can be considered all session.  That’s one reason the Ways and Means Committee is one of the hardest working committees, of course I am a little prejudice.

Connect Every Iowan…  

One of the Governor’s initiatives this year is to make high-speed internet, defined as broadband available in every home.  This is a lofty goal and would help to bring more businesses to rural Iowa.  While it may not be feasible to make this available to every home owner, we are looking at ways to help local providers get more Iowans connected to broadband.  The last thing we need is more government overreach; Washington DC seems to be doing too much of that.  However, we are looking at ways to see if the state of Iowa can help private businesses so they can offer their customers broadband services.  I have reached out to several local providers, as well as other providers around the state to see what is being offered presently.  Also, it is important to know what the actual and anticipated demand is and for what speeds.  You can offer broadband that has lots of speed, but if it is not in demand or is unaffordable, it doesn’t make much sense to invest in the infrastructure of broadband.    There are many questions and little time, my information folder seems to be getting bigger and bigger.  I am actually starting to understand the difference in kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes and Terabytes.  This bill passed out of the Commerce Committee and is waiting to be assigned in the Ways and Means Committee.  I will continue to serve on the subcommittee in the Ways and Means Committee.

Protecting Your Childs Identity…  

Wednesday in the Pubic Safety Committee one of the bills we passed was HF 2116.  I served on the subcommittee for this bill and would not pass the bill out of subcommittee without an amendment.  The amendment replaced the entire bill with one basic action; Parents/Legal Guardians can freeze their child’s social security number, to protect them from someone else stealing it and destroying the credit associated to that number.  Parents will get a social security number for their children when they are born, but typically there would never be any credit check until they would be legal adults.  So their identity could be stolen and go unchecked for eighteen years or more.  While this bill does not stop all stolen identities, it goes a long way in protecting our minor children and their identity.  I voted for the bill once this amendment replaced the original draft of the bill.  This bill passed out of the Public Safety Committee and heads to the House Chamber for debate.

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” – Abraham Lincoln

For more information on these and other bills:  www.legis.iowa.gov

 Until next time,

Tom Sands

Click here: DHS Contracted To Purchase 704 Million Rounds of Ammo Over Next 4 Years: 2,500 Rounds Per Officer

Click here: Poll: 71% of Obama voters, 55% Democrats ‘regret’ voting for his re-election